Softhearted
by Kalira69
Summary: Uchiha Madara is a dangerous, temperamental ninja. He most certainly does not go soft over the Clan children or melt under affectionate attention from his lover. At all. Even when he's exhausted.


After I wrote Terrible Pillow I thought really I should write the flipside of those sleepy-headed, up-too-late feels . . . and wound up with an idea that split immediately in disparate directions, so there's this one and there will be another MadaTobi up later this week.

* * *

"All right, children," Tobirama said, smiling as he patted Kagami's shoulder, "it is _very_ late, run straight home before your parents decide not to let you out after us again."

Kagami gave a little alarmed yelp and bowed. "Thank you Tobirama-sensei, Madara-sama!" he said quickly, and then he spun and ran off as fast as he could go. Madara snickered. The couple of other Uchiha children they had collected over the course of the evening followed suit with their own respectful bows and farewells and began to leave in his wake . . . though none of the others hurried quite so much.

Tobirama reached up and swept Hana away, putting her back on the ground and shooing her towards her older sister waiting a few paces away. She bowed silently in thanks as Hana instead waved at them with a tiny, sloppy smile. Madara rolled his shoulders and nodded at the girls, and Tobirama returned the wave. Hana's sister smiled, then collected her by the hand and led her away.

"All right, Madara," Tobirama said, turning away from the departing girls and eyeing him, and Madara narrowed his eyes in return, "it is _very_ late, let's get you home before you collapse."

Madara huffed and turned away, stalking off and leaving Tobirama behind.

Not that he stayed there; Madara felt Tobirama following him, taking a matter of moments to catch up and settling into an easy pace at his side. Madara darted a look sideways, but he remained silent, so Madara said nothing either as they made their way through the Uchiha district.

Madara paused at the foot of the steps to the porch, looking up at his home.

"Only a little further." Tobirama encouraged, already at the top of the steps. "I know you're tired but-"

"I'm _fine_." Madara snapped, glaring through his spikier-than-usual hair.

"So I see." Tobirama said dryly, unmoved. His arms were folded across his chest and he looked irritatingly tall and broad even lacking his armour. "I'm sure running a weeklong mission that spiralled out of control and into _three_ , returning just in time to be dragged into a diplomatic _nightmare_ to back up my brother, and then staying up half the night to attend the matsuri while watching over the children couldn't _possibly_ have been too much for you . . . what was I thinking." he continued, deadpan. "Anyone would be fine under that workload."

"I am not just anyone." Madara muttered under his breath as he headed up the stairs, just shy of stomping. The wood shifted slightly with each step he took, just shy of creaking under the force.

"No, you are certainly not." Tobirama agreed evenly, reaching for him as he stepped onto the porch. Madara snorted and took half a step away from him. "And most people would have taken the time to rest immediately - or at the least as soon as duty released them." he added, following Madara to the front door. "Not let the children drag you out and stretch your day even longer."

Madara grumbled wordlessly, allowing Tobirama to move ahead to release the wards and open the door. "Clan Head," he pointed out as he moved inside, voice low, "it _is_ my duty to watch over the children."

"Just admit you go soft when the children ask for anything," Tobirama said, his lips curling as he wrapped an arm around Madara's back, not quite offering support but there if he wanted it, " _and_ let me take you to bed before you fall down, love."

Madara didn't miss Tobirama deftly skipping over the point that not all the children who had showed up on the doorstep just when Madara had been anticipating falling into bed - possibly for three days straight; he could certainly use the rest - were even Uchiha.

Madara huffed, ducking his chin closer to his chest. "I do not. They're all brats and I hate them." he grumbled, eyes on the floor. He couldn't help but remember Kagami at the head of the small group and looking up at Madara hopefully, hands clasped in front of him, nearly bouncing but clearly trying to restrain himself for propriety before his Clan Head. Of course Madara had given in _how could anyone not_.

"Mmhm." Tobirama agreed evenly and nudged him deeper into the house, towards their bedroom. "Utterly loathe them. I can tell. It was particularly obvious when you picked Hana up to sit her on your shoulders to watch the fireworks."

Madara flushed, glaring at Tobirama again. He had that _damned_ tiny unfairly _adorable_ smile on his face that he usually only got when some of his veritable pack of village children were following him, or when someone handed him an infant. Madara's heart squished painfully at the sight of it and he cleared his throat.

Tobirama looked at him, raising one brow inquisitively. Madara shook his head, and Tobirama's smile shifted a little, still small and warm but now directed straight at him.

Madara was having a little trouble breathing.

Tobirama stroked his hair out of his face, then pushed him through the door into their bedroom. "Come on, foolish love." he said softly as he urged Madara ahead of him, pressing a kiss to Madara's shoulder through his shirt.

"Not." Madara denied mostly absently.

"Of course." Tobirama agreed easily, his tone gentle. The door closed behind him with a soft click and Madara's shoulders sagged. The village was safe territory, of course, and their _home_ was safer still, refuge that it was, but their bedroom. . . It was peace and security, a quiet space filled only by the two of them.

Tobirama caught him by the shoulder just as he began to turn back, deftly unwinding him from his shirt and the layer of armour beneath he hadn't had time to remove after his return. Madara groaned a bit at being free of it - the mesh wasn't particularly heavy, nor restrictive, of course, but it _felt_ constricting to him and he rarely wore it, preferring his heavy battle armour. That hadn't been an option for his last assignment, though.

Madara wrinkled his nose, thinking of the dratted mess his mission had become - and he hadn't enjoyed it before it became a disaster. He hated missions that required him to conceal himself, pretend to be beneath notice, rather than. . . He sighed, stripping out of his pants and the handful of holsters for concealed weaponry he _also_ hadn't had time to leave behind before being dragged out to the matsuri. He hadn't even made it all the way inside the house earlier before the children had ambushed him.

"Do you want help with this, love?" Tobirama asked, one hand stroking down the mass of Madara's hair as he corralled it into a neater fall down his back.

Madara groaned at the thought of his hair, wincing. He had . . . not actually had time to give it even a cursory attempt at attention for more than a week, he had been pressed so hard on the last leg of the mission. Completing the last drop and bolting back for Konoha.

"Mm." Tobirama dipped down and kissed his cheek lightly. "Normally I'd suggest a bath would make you feel better but I think you'd drown in one right now." he said wryly, pushing Madara to sit on the bed.

He collapsed more than _sat_ , really, and groaned as the comfortable mattress took his weight. "You'd let me drown?" he said, pouting a little.

Tobirama shot him a look, half smiling. "Of course not, but you take my point." he said lightly, shaking his head as he moved away. "You could certainly use one, but I think sleep would serve you best for now." He returned with Madara's hairbrush in hand and slid around him to settle on the bed at his back, one leg resting alongside Madara's own, the ball of his foot brushing the floor.

Tobirama began gently drawing Madara's hair back again, already picking out a few of the looser tangles. He settled in, folding his other leg up before himself - his shin brushed Madara's hip. "Try not to fall asleep yet." Tobirama said softly, and kissed Madara's shoulder when he mumbled a vague agreement he was not, actually, certain he could keep. "Let me know if I hurt you." he added, separating out a section of Madara's hair for the brush.

Madara scoffed at that, closing his eyes at the feeling of Tobirama's knuckles brushing his back in the process of drawing his hair up. Tobirama started humming absently halfway through the first section, and Madara smiled slightly listening to him.

Tobirama's hands were deft and gentle working through the snarls Madara's hair had been picked up as he ran and fought. More gentle than necessary, really - Madara was hardly tender headed - but it was nice. Comforting.

Something clattered quietly onto the floor at their feet and Madara jerked in place, realising belatedly he'd been drifting into something of a doze, eyes snapping open.

He found- There was a twig on the floor. A moment later it was joined by a small fragment of metal that flew through the air beside Madara's arm. He frowned.

"What-" he began, looking down at the debris. Then he realised belatedly. . . "Was that in my _hair_?"

"Yes." Tobirama confirmed, knuckles rubbing firmly at the nape of Madara's neck. He moaned, sagging under the touch, head beginning to bow. A tiny part of his mind sparked with alarm at the vulnerability of the position, but he ignored it easily. It was easily soothed by the cool presence of Tobirama behind him, knowing he was safe as anything here, in their bedroom, with his lover at his back.

"What on earth _did_ you get into?" Tobirama murmured, though he didn't really sound like he was expecting an answer. A scrap of bright ribbon fluttered to the floor and Madara flushed, remembering the mess he'd narrowly escaped from after leaping out a window and landing unwarily in the middle of a village-wide celebration as he fled the disaster his mission had fallen into. He didn't offer the explanation.

Another few strokes of the brush and then Tobirama brought it forwards past Madara's ear, carefully gentle as he brushed Madara's hair back along his head.

Madara tilted his head absently, and Tobirama pulled his fringe back with the rest as well, running the brush through it with only a few snags. After a couple of strokes that only caught a few places along their length, and only briefly, he let the brush fall with a soft thump onto the bed.

He nuzzled Madara's shoulder, fingers running lightly through his hair as the now-smooth mass of it fell over his back. Madara shivered at the sensation, and Tobirama leaned in close, burying his nose at the base of Madara's neck.

"I'm glad you're home safely." Tobirama said, voice low, hands sliding over Madara's hips and then moving forwards, arms wrapping neatly around his waist.

Madara pressed back against his lover and twisted slightly. Tobirama sighed and kissed his neck before lifting his head to meet Madara's eyes with a faint smile. Madara reached up and brushed his fingers over Tobirama's face, then closed his eyes, leaning in, his temple coming to rest against Tobirama's cheek.

Tobirama's arms tightened gently around him. "All right, lie down before you fall asleep." he said after a moment, sighing, lightly petting Madara's belly.

Madara groaned and nodded, twisting blindly a little more towards Tobirama, hoping for. . .

He smiled as Tobirama obliged with a soft kiss. Then he pulled away, hands rubbing over Madara's shoulders and giving him a light nudge off the bed. Madara rose, stripping off his undergarments and tossing them across the room with the rest of the clothes he'd worn on the mission.

When he turned around the blanket was turned back and Tobirama was standing expectantly by the bed. Madara glowered at him, but it was mainly for show. He stretched and then climbed into the open space gratefully, turning onto his back and sinking blissfully into the comfortable mattress.

He opened his eyes a moment later, though they ached a bit in protest. He tilted his head, looking at Tobirama, now a few steps further away. "Are you coming to bed?" he asked, and he swore he was _not_ pouting again.

Tobirama hummed, offering a small smile once more tinged with fond warmth. "I'll be back in shortly, love." he promised, and stepped out. Madara sighed, closing his eyes and settling into bed a little more with a tired wriggle.

Despite his exhaustion, he wasn't quite asleep by the time Tobirama returned, darkness suddenly shrouding the room. He climbed into bed and Madara couldn't help a smile at the warmth and the presence beside him. Content and relaxed, he was soon falling into sleep, even as he felt the blanket rustling over them and a hand sweeping over his brow in a light caress.


End file.
